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Gristle Fern

Oceaniopteris cartilaginea

Also called Hammock Fern

Gristle Fern
Photo: Poyt448 Peter Woodard, CC0

Gristle fern is a tough, abundant Australian fern from eastern rainforest and forest margins, valued for its pink or reddish new growth. It grows best in shade and is tolerant of dry conditions once established.

Family
Blechnaceae (Blechn family)
Grows as
Fern
Light
Part shade, Shade
Water
Water regularly while establishing, then allow the top of the soil to dry slightly between waterings.
Soil
Moist, well-drained, humus-rich soil or a peaty potting mix.
Temperature
15–28 °C; protect from frost.
How easy
Easy

About

Oceaniopteris cartilaginea, synonym Blechnum cartilagineum, is known as the gristle fern or soft water fern. It is a resilient and abundant fern growing in eastern Australia, seen in rainforest and eucalyptus forest. The new growth is often pink or reddish in colour.

It is very tolerant of dry conditions once established in a shady area. It can be found in sheltered areas along creeks within 200m of sea level that are within dry sclerophyll forest or on the margins of wet sclerophyll forest.

Other Oceaniopteris plants

Oceaniopteris gibba · Oceaniopteris

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Oceaniopteris cartilaginea by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

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